Molded plastic container secondary operations machine

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is provided for performing secondary operations on plastic containers including deflashing, machining, leak detecting and dimension checking. The assemblies for performing these secondary operations are synchronized and designed to enable sequential operations to each of a continuing succession of containers to enable more and faster operations than in the past. A transfer mechanism indexes the containers between operation stations. Defective containers are rejected as the containers emerge from the processing apparatus.

United States Patent 1191 Eggert 1111 3,716,910 1 1 Feb. 20, 1973 [54] MOLDED PLASTIC CONTAINER SECONDARY OPERATIONS MACHINE Noel B. Eggert, Toledo, Ohio Assignee: Owens-Illinois,lnc.

Filed: Nov. 27, 1970 Appl. No.: 93,069

Inventor:

us. (:1. ..29/563, 29/33 P, 408/7, 192/125 110. c1. ..B23p 23/00 Field of Search ..29/33 P, 33 A, 563-, 408/4, 403/70, 50, 7; 192/84 P, 125 A, 127

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1966 Brown et al. ..29l33 P 9/1969 Ninneman et al ..29,/33 A X 1/l966 Bozek ..29/33 P 3,444,604 511969 Waechter et al. ..29/33 A 3,494,520 2/ 1970 Bewalda, Jr. et al ..29/33 A X 3,236,350 2/l966 Wintriss ..l92/l25 A Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-Z. R. Bilinsky Attorney-Philip M. Rice and E. .l. Holler [5 7] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus is provided for performing secondary operations on plastic containers including deflashing, machining, leak detecting and dimension checking. The assemblies for performing these secondary operations are synchronized and designed to enable sequential operations to each of a continuing succession of containers to enable more and faster operations than in the past. A transfer mechanism indexes the containers between operation stations. Defective containers are rejected as the containers emerge from the processing apparatus.

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INVENTOR. NOEL B. EGGERT BY 491a ATTORNEY MOLDED ILASTIC CONTAINER SECONDARY OPERATIONS MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For convenience, certain terms employed in the specification are defined as follows. I

The term flash" refers to a finlike web which projects from the surface of the article. Flash is formed in lo the molding operation by material which is caught between the closing mold halves or forced between the mold half faces during the molding operation.

The term moil refers to the plastic left from the original gob after the container has been blown in the mold and severed from the supply. In the present case the moil extends upwardly from the finish neck portion of the bottle.

While the invention will be described specifically with respect to performing secondary operations on a molded plastic bottle having an integrally molded handle, it will become apparent from the description that the invention is applicable to other types of molded articles. The molded plastic bottle having a handle has been chosen as a specific example since this particular article presents a wide variety of problems in performing secondary operations thereon.

In the molding of plastic bottles of the foregoing type, the neck or finish of the bottle is first injection molded and a tubular parison is formed, or the tubular parison is formed and the neck or finish is blown in the molds. The parison is then positioned in operative alignment with a pair of blow mold halves which are then closed upon the parison. The interior of the tubular parison is then pressurized to expand the parison into contact with the mold walls. In the formation of handled bottles, the tubular parison is initially expanded prior to the closing of the mold to make sure that the handle portion of the mold will close upon a portion of the parison. This inherently requires that the closing mold halves grip between them some of the plastic material of the parison, thereby resulting in a web of plastic material within the handle opening at the conclusion of the molding process. Additionally, as the mold closes, a certain amount of the parison is caught between the closing mold faces in the region of the shoulder, thus resulting in projecting fins on the shoulder of the completed article. The projecting tins and the web within the handle opening are referred to below generally as flash.

In the forming of plastic bottles, problems are frequently encountered by the presence of minute pin holes in the bottles. Although not readily discernible to the eye, the presence of such pin holes is reason for rejecting the bottle.

Accordingly, it is necessary that plastic bottles be tested to determine whether such bottles have pin holes which would present problems if the bottle were used for packaging goods. The bottles are customarily tested by introducing therein fluid pressure from an outside source and waiting a period of time to see whether such pressure is lost through pin holes contained in the bottle.

The plastic containers have also had to be individually dimensionally checked, particularly to see 'whether the finished height of the container was within a desired tolerance. This is necessary because the containers may be passed through automatic container filling machines, packing machines, etc., and a container that is too short or too tall may cause an automatic machine to malfunction.

Various machining operations are also performed on plastic containers to face, ream, chamfer, or otherwise finish particular portions of the containers.

Individual machines have been designed to individually perform the secondary operations discussed, some of which have been operated relatively successfully. However, there are container handling and orienting problems when the containers are moved from machine to machine for each operation. Further, individual machine operations are relatively slow because the containers must be handled and re oriented between machines and because the operations of one machine were not timed with respect to the operations of the next machine. Moreover, individual machines for each operation are more expensive, occupy more valuable floor space, require more operator attention, and cause more control problems.

In addition, since the plastic used in manufacturing some containers tends to change dimensionally in response to temperature changes, e.g. after it cools on emerging from the mold, it is important that seconary operations be performed quickly after molding, and/or rapidly with respect to each other, so that the secondary operations can be performed on the container while it is in a particular dimensional range to enable more accurate results from the secondary operations without adjusting individual machines.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide novel apparatus for performing several secondary operations on plastic containers, the operations being sequentially performed in the apparatus which synchronizes the operations with respect to each other mechanically, pneumatically, and electrically.

It is a further object of this invention to provide improved deflasher, machining, leak detecting and dimension checking assemblies which are novel and useful separately, or which may be combined as shown.

It is a still further object to provide an improved transfer mechanism for moving or indexing containers or other objects between stations.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved method of and apparatus for performing secondary operations on molded plastic articles.

Other objects, advantages and features of this inven tion will become apparent when the following description is taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of apparatus embodying the teachings of this invention taken from the left side of container flow from the loading station through the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view taken from the downstream side of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of means for determining the index position of the transfer mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the index control portion of the transfer mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5, partially in section taken along lines VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the transfer mechanism emphasizing the clamp rails and apparatus for moving same;

FIG. 8 is a plan view, partially in section, of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7 taken along lines IX-IX of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating escapement apparatus located between the loading and orientation stations; 7

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an end elevational view partially in section, of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 11, looking upstream toward the loading station;

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the deflasher assembly taken from the same side of the apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is cross-sectional view of the deflasher assembly illustrated in FIG. 13, taken along lines XIX XIX of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the deflasher assembly illustrated in FIG. 14, taken along lines XV- XV of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a crosssectional view of the deflasher assembly illustrated in FIG. 14, taken along lines XVl XVI of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the deflasher assembly illustrated in FIG. 14, taken along lines XVIl-- XVII of FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of a stabilizer assembly at an idle station;

FIG. 19 is a plan view of the facer and leak detector drive carrier assembly;

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 19, taken along lines XX-XX of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged view of the facing spindle feed cam and includes a graphic representation of its cyclic ope'ration;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of the leak detector assembly feed cam and includes a graphic representation of its cyclic operation;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged view of the bellows compressing cam and includes a graphic representation of its cyclic operation;

FIG. 24 is a plan view of the facer assembly;

FIG. 25 is an end elevational view of the facer assembly looking downstream of the container flow therethrough;

FIG. 26 is a bottom view of the facer assembly illustrated in FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a side elevational view of the facer assembly taken from the left side of the machine;

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of the facer assembly in FIG. 24, taken along lines XXVlII-XXVIII of FIG. 24;

FIG. 29 is a side elevational view of the leak detector and dimension checking assembly, partially in section, taken from the left side of the machine;

FIG. 30 is an end elevational view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 29, partially in section, looking upstream toward the container flow;

FIG. 31 is a bottom view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a plan view of the eject mechanism and the unload station;

FIG. 33 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 32 taken from the left side of the machine;

FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of the air supply and air control circuit for the deflasher and facing stations;

FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram of the air supply and air control circuit for the leak detecting and dimension checking station;

FIG. 36 is a schematic diagram of a first part of the electrical control circuit for the apparatus herein; and

FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram of a second part of the electrical control circuit of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a side elevational view taken from the left of the center line of container flow through the apparatus and in FIG. 2 an end elevational view taken from a downstream side of FIG. 1, a general assembly layout of a machine 30 incorporating the teachings of this invention.

The machine 30 is designed to accept blown plastic containers 280 and perform secondary operations of deflashing, facing or other machining work, dimensional checking, and leak detection. The containers 280 are then deposited on an unloading conveyor or other removal means. Containers not within the dimensional or leak detection tolerances are ejected from the unloading conveyor and the remaining containers are conveyed to packing, filling, or other container use areas.

To perform these operations the preferred embodiment of the machine 30 includes nine in-line stations which are noted in FIG. 1 as load station 31, orientation station 32, idle station 33, deflash station 34, idle station 35, facing or other machining station 36, idle station 37, leak detection and dimensional checking station 38, and unload station 39.

The assembly and mechanism at each station will be described in detail hereinafter. However, to provide an initial understanding of the machine functions, the operations at each station are set forth briefly here.

Containers 280 are delivered to load station 31 by an endless belt conveyor 260. An escapement mechanism blocks free entry of containers 280 into the load station causing the containers to accumulate in a column on conveyor 260. The escapement mechanism releases one container at a time to the load station in synchronization with the operation of an in-line transfer mechanism designated generally at 118 which moves or indexes individual containers from station to station. A container detection unit monitors the presence or absence of containers available at the load station and generates a signal in response to the lack of containers which may be utilized to shut down completely or temporarily halt the operation of the entire machine until one or more containers are again available at the load station.

The containers are properly oriented at the orientation station 32 for subsequent operations at succeeding stations. No specific orienting mechanism is described herein but an orienting means similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,899, issued Apr. 16, 1968, may be utilized and the description thereof is incorporated herein by reference thereto. 7

Alternatively, the containers may be oriented by the above-referenced orienting means or other suitable 

1. Apparatus having loading and unloading stations for accepting and discharging molded objects and performing secondary finishing and testing operations thereon at a plurality of operation stations between said loading and unloading stations comprising, a. a transfer mechanism for moving objects from station to station, b. operation performing assemblies at each operation station, c. means for driving said transfer mechanism and said operation performing assemblies to enable synchronization of transfers and work operations, d. means for connecting said driving means to all of said operation assemblies including a unit for providing a rotary output of a predetermined number of revolutions each time it is engaged, and e. means responsive to the transfer of an object into an operation station for engaging said rotary output unit.
 1. Apparatus having loading and unloading stations for accepting and discharging molded objects and performing secondary finishing and testing operations thereon at a plurality of operation stations between said loading and unloading stations comprising, a. a transfer mechanism for moving objects from station to station, b. operation performing assemblies at each operation station, c. means for driving said transfer mechanism and said operation performing assemblies to enable synchronization of transfers and work operations, d. means for connecting said driving means to all of said operation assemblies including a unit for providing a rotary output of a predetermined number of revolutions each time it is engaged, and e. means responsive to the transfer of an object into an operation station for engaging said rotary output unit.
 2. Apparatus having loading and unloading stations for accepting and discharging molded objects and performing secondary finishing and testing operations thereon at a plurality of operation stations between said loading and unloading stations comprising, a. a transfer mechanism for moving objects from station to station, b. operation performing assemblies at each operation station, c. means for driving said transfer mechanism and said operation performing assemblies to enable synchronization of transfers and work operations, d. said transfer unit including a spaced plurality of object handling devices operable to grasp an object at one station and release the object at the next station; and e. said transfer unit further including means for indexing said object handling devices from one station forward to the next station after said object handling devices have been actuated to grasp an object at said one station, for dwelling at said next station while said object handling devices release grasped objects, for indexing said object handling devices from said next station back to said one station after release of grasped objects, and for dwelling at said one station while said object handling devices are actuated to grasp objects at said one station; thereby providing a cyclic operation of said transfer mechanism.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 which further includes a. means for sensing the completion of an index cycle of said transfer mechanism, and b. means responsive to said index cycle sensing means for interrupting operation of the apparatus if an index cycle is not completed.
 4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said transfer mechanism further includes a. rotary crank driving means, and b. tie rod assembly means for translating the rotary motion of said rotary crank driving means to reciprocal linear motion to inDex said object handling devices back and forth, c. the center of rotation of said rotary crank driving means being offset from the center line of travel of said reciprocal linear motion to provide a more rapid index forward stroke and a relatively slower index back stroke to provide more time within the cycle to perform operations at said operation stations.
 5. Apparatus having loading and unloading stations for accepting and discharging molded objects and performing secondary finishing and testing operations thereon at a plurality of operation stations between said loading and unloading stations comprising, a. a transfer mechanism for moving objects from station to station, b. operation performing assemblies at each operation station, c. means for driving said transfer mechanism and said operation performing assemblies to enable synchronization of transfers and work operations, d. said operation stations including a deflashing station having nest platen carriers operable to nest and hold objects for flash severing, e. said deflashing station further including a knife platen carrier operable to move to and withdraw from a flash severing position while said nest platen carriers are dwelling in a nesting position, f. means for sensing separation of said nest platen carriers during said nesting dwell period, and g. means responsive to said nest platen separation sensing means for interrupting operation of the apparatus if said nest platen carriers separate from the nesting position during the nesting dwell period.
 6. Apparatus having loading and unloading stations for accepting and discharging molded objects and performing secondary finishing and testing operations thereon at a plurality of operation stations between said loading and unloading stations comprising, a. a transfer mechanism for moving objects from station to station, b. operation performing assemblies at each operation station including a testing station, c. means for driving said transfer mechanism and said operation performing assemblies to enable synchronization of transfers and work operations, d. means for generating a reject signal in response to failure of a test applied to an object at said testing station, and e. means for storing said reject signal until said object is transferred to the unloading station by said transfer mechanism. 